​Appetizers are the new dinner party! Years ago, a good dinner party in the South consisted of BBQ and good drinks! Now that we’re getting a little older, our we’ve made our dinner parties a little more sophisticated—BUT we still love our BBQs!

A fun –and delicious—way to incorporate appetizers into your dinner parties is by creating a charcuterie board.

What exactly is charcuterie? Charcuterie is a French word for any smoked, dry-cured or cooked meat.{You had us at meat!}You can add a variety of items that can be paid in many different combinations. Talk about an explosion of flavor in your mouth! Combinations usually include various ingredients that compliment the meats and cheeses for a fun do-it-yourself appetizer experience for your guests.

Basic Tips for Assembling a Charcuterie Board:

​· Select a variety of meat and cheese, meaning an assortment of mild, medium and bold flavors. Some people prefer softer, mild meats and cheeses, where other folks love big, bold flavors. Be sure you have options for both mild and bold flavors, as well as middle-of-the-road options.

· Add seasonal fruit to the mix. While the main event attraction of a charcuterie board should be the meat, it is always smart to include fresh in-season fruit to add sweetness to the salty and to change up the experience. If you want to get extra fancy, you can roast or grill fresh fruit.

· Jams or preserves: Include 1 or 2 jams or preserves for some added flavor and sweetness to balance out the dry and salty meat and cheese. Fig spread goes marvelously with many cheeses and meats, so I always like to include it. I also like to include apricot jam, but raspberry or grape jam works, too. Again, you can step this up by using homemade jams, but store-bought works great and chances are you already have several options in your pantry.

· Provide something briny to pair with the meat and cheese. Pickled vegetables, such as gherkins or pickles, olives, pickled jalapenos or pepperoncinis are great on charcuterie boards. They can be paired easily with the bold meats, such as salami or sopressata, and add a mouth-watering tang.

· Other spreads: You may also include any of your favorite spreads, such as stone ground mustard, tapenade, pate, hummus, and/or white bean dip. These spreads are great for smearing on sliced baguette for stacking meat and cheese on top.

· Alcohol: When appropriate, include alcohol to your charcuterie experience. Wine and beer pair excellently with meat and cheese and can enhance the flavor experience. Generally speaking, you want to pair bold-flavored meat and cheese with bold-flavored alcohol. For instance, goat cheese, smoked salmon and prosciutto pairs well with white wine, while salami, cheddar and blue cheese go great with red wine.

· Crackers & bread: While your guests can get along perfectly well without crackers or sliced baguette, these items can be great for pairing a variety of ingredients for providing stability to the bite. I like to provide gluten-free crackers as well as regular crackers. I choose crackers that don’t have a huge amount of flavor, added herbs or salt so that the crackers don’t detract from the flavor of what’s being added to them.

· The finished product: Putting all of these elements together, you will end up with a board that has a variety of pairing options. Here is what I included on the board pictured in this post: For the meat, I chose prosciutto, pancetta, sopressata, and Genoa salami. For the cheese: goat chevre, Gruyere, English blue cheese. In the fruit department, I added fresh red grapes, figs, blueberries and dates. For the spreads, I used a fig spread and apricot preserves, both of which I already had on-hand. Last, but not least, my briney elements were brown mustard and olives. I also had a variety of white and red wines, as well as beer available in the refrigerator for whoever wanted it.Credit: The Roasted Root

The “Grand Board” at City Pork in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is mainly made up of St. Andre Triple Cream Brie, Gruyere, Roquefort, Gouda, Lonza, Smoked Duck, Chicken Liver Paté, Hog’s Head Cheese, and Truffle Sausage.

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